[May 28th, Evening]

To say that Akira and Shiho were in a good mood… was an understatement. After the extremely scuffed, but still successful confession of love, they spent the rest of the day walking around the park and just talking.

However, they were fine with the quiet end of their date. After all, they… found each other now. They no longer had to beat around the bushes, had to treasure the split moment when their hands touched, when their gaze caught each other.

Hand in hand and fingers crossed, the new couple walked down the road together. As the street light above them shined upon them, they felt like a pair of protagonists from a romance movie.

However, the walk finished earlier than expected, as they arrived at the Suzui household.

"So… here's our stop," Akira said, chuckled to himself, and turned to Shiho beside him. "Uh… what can I say…"

"It's alright, you don't need to," Shaking her head and giggling, the volleyball player leaned in and kissed him. "It's a fantastic date, Akira. I can't ask for anything better than this."

"Well, I'm sure that our next date will be better than this one," Smirking, he stole another peck on her lips before gesturing her to the house. "But either way, I can't keep you here forever, or auntie and uncle might get angry with me."

"Oh they'll love you, I'm sure," Giggling, Shiho released her hold on Akira's hand and stopped before her home's front door. "Good night though, maybe you can meet them one day…"

"Nah, it'd be too fast." In response, Akira just shook his head with a smile.

With that said, a sense of awkward silence dropped between them, quite a rarity since the confession. Even though it was only a few hours since that. It's probably just because of the fact that they're still new to being a couple, that's normal, right?

Thankfully, the amateur writer manned up and approached her, pressing his lips on hers again. And this time, instead of just a small peck, Akira held her tight, just as Shiho returned the same passion.

It lasted for a short while. However, even after their lips were separated, the two still pressed their forehead together.

"Now, I can finally say my goodnight," Akira chuckled. "After all, a gentleman should give his lady a good night kiss, right?"

"Did you just make it up?" Shiho giggled, still thankful for everything. "But thanks, for everything."

"I know. Good night, my Swan."

"Same to you, my Jester."

Releasing the hug neutrally, the new couple went on their way. Well, in Shiho's case, it's just getting into her home. And instantly, faced by her parents.

Were they worried or angry? No, that was the furthest from the truth.

Instead, their face was filled will excitement.

"So, how's the date?" They asked in unison, much to Shiho's embarrassment. "Did you two kiss, or even go to second base-"

"N-no, of course not!" With her cheek filled with a deep shade of crimson, Shiho hastily shook her head and pushed them away. "Mom! Dad! It's inappropriate! And why the hell are you two acting like nosy teenagers?!"

"Because… we are?" They replied in unison again, as if her question didn't make any sense to them. "Like, back when mama-chan and papa-chan were in college, we-"

"Okay! You don't need to finish up that sentence, mom!"

"But you always talked about how great that Akira is," Shiho's mom said, pouting. "Like how cute he is when he's embarrassed, how he would slip up and act even cuter, or how good looking he is when he's working-"

"Fine! I-I know I talked a lot about him, but that doesn't give any excuse for you two to-"

"Shiho, this is the tradition for the Suzui family," The father said, crossing his arms and acting as serious as he could (which… really didn't look like it). "You wouldn't believe what grandma said to me when I first date mama-chan-"

"Okay, I get it!" Cutting her parent off again, Shiho tried her best to keep the blush on her cheek in control. "B-but wait, how did you two know it's a date?"

"Ann told us," The two older Suzui answered in unison as if it was public information.

"Huh?!"

"Like, didn't you tell her about it to ask for help? She then told us about it to reassure us," Giving out a long breath, Shiho's father crossed his arms and scowled. "After what happened… we're nervous about you going out with a boy. Like, really nervous."

"We're already conflicted when you chose to stay in Shujin too," Shiho's mother added, giving out the same long breath as her husband. "But… is he the reason you chose to stay?"

Surprised by her sudden question, the volleyball player hesitated. But, she still nodded. "…He's a big part," She said, with both of her hands held behind her back. "If not for him… I don't know where I'd end up now. I… I don't have any other words to describe it, but… he saved me."

"Are… are you gonna scold me for… this?"

"…No, we're not gonna do that," Shiho's father said, as his wife agreed with a nod. "I recognize this look in your eyes, and you're totally serious with him."

"When your grandma asked us whether we're serious or not, I think I said the exact same thing as you just said," Shiho's mother added with a small smile. "I'm happy for you, Shiho."

"I was going to say I want to meet him personally, but that'd be too early," Shiho's father chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm really happy for you as well, Shiho."

"Mom… Dad…" Trailing off, Shiho rushed forward and pulled both of them into a group hug. And it lasted for a while, in silence and warmth.

Until Shiho's mother seemed to remember something important.

"Oh right, you also need to tell Ann about it too, we promised her that you're gonna tell her the result."

For a second there, silence filled the space around Shiho, as her eyes widened in shock and horror.

"…Wait, WHAT?!"

[Meanwhile, back in Akira's apartment]

"I'm back!" Opening the door of his apartment, Akira was greeted by a grinning Elizabeth. Which usually isn't a weird thing, it's just today, her 'grin' felt a bit… off. AND on top of that, Paff was enthusiastically running around him. as if she sensed something from him, and was happy about it.

"Welcome back, Akira!" The said apartment-mate replied, oddly enthusiastic even for her standard. "So, how's the date?"

"It was great, considering I had to plan it in less than a day or so-" Cutting his own words short, the amateur writer stared at Liz with widened eyes. "Wait a second, how did you know?!"

"Aha, finally remember that I didn't know your little date with Suzui, huh?" Elizabeth said, crossing her arms with a smirk. "If not for Fuuka-chan to tell us in the group chat, I wouldn't know that!"

Even though he wanted to address her namedropping Fuuka into the mix, Akira chose to leave it alone for now. "I… uh… sorry 'bout that," He apologized.

"Well, I'm a very forgiving person, so you're not in trouble," Elizabeth patted his shoulder, extending the length of the word 'very' to a comically high degree. "But actually, everyone is waiting for you to call them back!"

"Everyone?"

"Yep, Mitsuru and all!" She nodded enthusiastically, as she pushed Akira to his room with a surprising amount of force. "Now just call them back, and enjoy the show!"

"The- what?" At this point, it would be the realm of possibility that there were a few question marks floating above Akira's head. "What do you mean-"

Before he could finish his question, the amateur writer found himself already pushed into his room. And before him, and on the desk was his laptop, physically opened and had the online chat app opened as well.

Maybe it was because of how quickly everything just transpired, Akira now finally had some time to figure out what Liz's words meant. More specifically, the implications.

And his eyes widened as he realized that.

Rushing to the said laptop, he was faced by everyone back in Iwatodai Dorm. And all of them said the exact same thing, at the same time. Even Mitsuru.

"Congratulation, Akira!"

"Never thought you'd get a girlfriend before Ken, you're DA man!" One of the men inside his laptop screen with a cap on, A.K.A Junpei said with a big grin. As Chidori who sat next to him giggled, the said teenager groaned.

"I think I said before that I wanted to focus on my study, Junpei-san," Ken said, burying his face into his palm before looking back at Akira. "But anyway, how did you two meet?"

"Aha, trying to sneakily learn from Akira, huh?" Minako smirked, crossed her arms, and tried to act (terribly) like a mother of some sort. "Didn't you just say 'I just want to focus on my study'?"

"I'm just- Wait we're supposed to tease Akira, not me!" The only other teenager in this chat exclaimed, his cheek flushed in embarrassment. "And besides, I'm a year older than him! Stop trying to act like I'M the kid!"

"I don't know kid, you're always the 'children' of our team," Shinjiro, who was sitting next to Minako, shrugged.

"Shinjiro-san! Not you too!"

"Minako sure is rubbing off on you, Shinji," Akihiko sighed, rubbing his eyebrows. "And I thought all these things in Ayanagi were going to make me feel like ten years older…"

"Don't worry, you'll still look good ten years later, Senpai," Yukari, who was sitting next to Mitsuru, said with a smile of reassurance.

"That's not helping at all…"

Watching the full event happening before her, Aigis, who occupied a specific chat window with Labrys, awkwardly chuckled. "Uh… shouldn't we turn our focus back onto Akira though?"

"I agree with Aigis here," Fuuka finally spoke up, giving him an apologetic look. "And I'm sorry, Akira… but they should know…"

"Well, I'd like to tell you all myself, but it's alright," Akira chuckled, a dreamily look still on his face as he recounted what happened today. "But… well, I still can't believe I'm dating her now. Was it like that back then?"

"Well we were all in the same dorm, so it's a bit different than your case," Yukari smiled, holding her knees and taking a glance at Mitsuru beside her. "But yeah, I felt like that back when we started dating."

"R-really?" Eyes widened, Mitsuru looked away with a blush. "U-uh… I thought it was only me for this entire time…"

"Okay, don't take away the spotlight, Mitsuru-senpai," Junpei said, grabbing Akira's attention from them. "Let me tell you, this is the universal feeling right after a successful confession!"

"As much as I don't want to agree with Stupei, it's true," Minako smiled, shifting her position on her sofa so she's closer to Shinjiro.

"Yeah, of course, you just come to me one night and say you love me…" Shinjiro sighed, shaking his head. "You're lucky that I felt the same way here…"

"That's new for you, Shinji," Akihiko chimed in, eyes widened. "So much for a 'tough guy' act…"

"Shaddup, Aki. You're not that much better either," Shinjiro retorted, leaning closer to the camera of… their computer, or laptop, or phone. "Need I remind you that you're banned from bringing protein powder to the police station-"

"Oh you just HAVE to bring this up-"

"Okay, that's enough banter," Thankfully, Aigis broke in between them and facepalmed. "We're here for Akira, not for you two to argue over nothing again! Besides, both of you are not teenagers anymore!"

At least, both of the parties involved weren't really clueless or stubborn. And they just apologized with an embarrassed look, backing away from that stupid argument that would never reach a conclusion.

And Mitsuru cleared her throat, metaphorically clearing a way for her talk as well. "In all seriousness, we're really happy to see you be happy again. It's a shame that we can't be here right now in person."

"It's fine, I get why," Shaking his head, Akira had to try to keep his face from grinning like an idiot. "We all got our own business to deal with, and we aren't like totally disconnected either. Our bonds aren't that easy to break, right?"

"He's starting to sound like Yu," Labrys commented.

"I… admit that," Surprised, Mitsuru brushed her bangs aside. "However, we can't believe it took you this long to even have a date in the first place though…"

"Yeah, you two were teasing us to the death," Minako nodded, before she looked like she just realized some kind of blackmail material on Akira. "But hey, when's the wedding?"

"…We just started dating a few hours ago, Minako-san," Deadpanned, the amateur writer found himself dumbfounded at her sudden questions.

"But aren't you two already acting like a married couple?"

Akira froze at Labrys' harmless comment, mouth dropped and eyes widened. Wait, how would they even know that? They weren't there when they uh… kept flirting around each other, was it Fuuka?

However, the said computer shop owner hastily shook her head, and she looked genuine. So… wait, there was someone else, someone who happened to constantly comment on them.

"Of course it's Keigo…" Trailing off, he buried his face into his palms. "I'm going to tear him a new one when I see him at that stupid cleanup tomorrow-"

"…Akira, the cleanup is on Monday," Outside of the room's door, Elizabeth's voice chimed in. "Today's Saturday."

Frozen again, Akira dropped his head onto the table with a loud 'bang', surprising everyone from SEES.

"DAMMIT!"

…To be honest, it was quite hard for the SEES To not laugh at the scene before them. The timing was just too perfect.

[May 30th, Akira's apartment]

After a whole day metaphorically punching himself for mistaking the date of the Clean-Up Trip (and dealing with Elizabeth's shenanigans), it finally was here. Not that Akira was even looking forward to this day, being a part of the Shujin PR team to save their ruined reputation… who would even want to do that?

"Ugh… I hate Monday…" Groaning loudly, Akira stood up in his bed and felt… a bit weird.

The apartment today… was a lot quieter than usual. Usually, by this time, Elizabeth would be waking him up with her shenanigans, or be his alarm clock (somewhat). But right now… it was really, really quiet.

"What the hell…?" Rubbing his eyes, he got off his bed and left his room. "Liz? You forgot to wake me up-"

Stepping out of his room, Akira only faced an empty living room. And the clock signaled that it was 6:42 in the morning right now. Thankfully, Akira wasn't that stupid and late on picking up hints, as his eyes widened in realization.

"Oh yeah, the clean-up is today…" Nodding to himself, he was about to turn back when he realized something else. "Wait! My sports uniform is still wet! And my breakfast!"

With that said (and as quick as he could), he rushed into the bathroom and grabbed his hairdryer. And then the said sports uniform from the balcony outside. If he did this quick enough, he could probably grab something to eat in Leblanc like before, or just grab some bread from a convenience store.

But that depended on how quickly he could dry his uniform, and it wasn't looking good right now.

"Why didn't you wake me up before you go, LIZ!"

[Meanwhile, inside Shujin's counselor's office]

Packing the cooking equipment and ingredients for the public lunch, Elizabeth suddenly felt a shiver run through her body. And the inch inside her nose became unbearable, like a broken dam-

"A-achoo!"

"Bless you," Maruki said, grabbing a piece of tissue and handed to her.

"Thanks, Doc," She grabbed the tissue for his hand, wiping her mouth and hands with it. "Feels like Akira just talked about me for a second…"

"Aki- Oh right, you're living with Ichijo," The counselor nodded, as his interest piqued. "I've wondered, how's living with him?"

"Living with him?" Raising an eye, she stroked her chin and pondered. "Well, at first, he basically banned me from the kitchen because I almost burnt down the house while trying to cook some rice-"

"Wait what?!" Eyes widened in pure horror, Maruki turned his gaze to the pot and ingredients in Elizabeth's hand. Even though he didn't say another word after that, what he meant was still clear.

"Don't worry, it's been like a few weeks or so since then," She replied with a smile as if trying to reassure him. It only turned out the other way instead, as the counselor gulped. "And I'm making the dinner at home now, so it's fine. Nothing will go wrong!"

"I find this extremely hard to believe…"

Thankfully, before this awkward conversation had to go on for even a single second longer, someone else opened the door. Rubbing her tired eyes, Kawakami Sadayo yawned as if she hadn't slept for an entire month. "Morning…"

"Miss Kawakami, I don't think teachers are needed to come back today," Maruki said, surprised by her sudden appearance. "Did you-"

"The principal said he needs a teacher to help oversee this whole thing," Interrupting him, the tried teacher just shook her head and sighed. "And since everyone else had their own plans already, I'm stuck with you guys."

"Oh, that sucks," The counselor gave her a sympathetic smile. "At least we got a plus one to help out the cooking, I'm losing trust in Elizabeth's safety capability by the seconds now."

"C'mon, I just told you that I won't create a mess!" Huffing, Elizabeth crossed her arms and pouted. "I'll show you!"

"Please, don't do that…" Kawakami sighed, losing count of how many times she did this today by now. "It's lunch for at least half of the school's students, I don't want to risk it to prove anything…"

"Touche…" Trailing off, Liz backpedaled and picked up the equipment and ingredients. "Well, either way, shouldn't we get going by now?"

[Meanwhile, Shibuya station square]

Amamiya Ren was tired, and definitely wasn't looking forward to what lay ahead for the day. Well, the clean-up itself wasn't anything bad, cleaning the park seemed like a good break from their thievery.

It's just that… the rumor mill definitely would come back and annoy him to no end. He was trying to ignore them, and succeeded in it, mostly. But still, it did hurt him, even just a bit.

"Why can't I just take a day off today…" Murmuring to himself, he stuffed his hand into the pocket of the red sports jacket from Shujin's sports uniform. At least this felt a bit more comfortable than the usual Shujin uniform, so that's a small good out of it all.

"Because we missed the time frame to ask for one?" Morgana said, lazily slumping on his shoulder, half out of his shoulder bag. "Besides, we need to appear as good old students for now, so-"

"So no one would be suspicious," Finishing the sentence, Ren continued his walk toward the park.

Until something else caught his attention. A middle-aged man approaching… that red-headed Kouhai he met before (if he remembered right, she's called… Yoshizawa, right?). And it didn't feel like anything good would come out from it.

"You go to Shujin, right?" That said man asked, an ulterior motive clear behind his voice. "I heard things have been… rough there lately, what with that violent incident."

"Wanna go talk about it somewhere?"

Thankfully, Yoshizawa wasn't as naive as one would perceive. "Thank you for your concern," She said, tightening her grasp on her bag and taking a step away from him. "However, I really am in a hurry, so if you'd excuse me…"

Picking up her pace, she tried to get away from this situation as quickly as possible. However, that man immediately grabbed her wrist with a tight grasp, not letting go and hurting her.

"C'mon, there's no need to be shy…" He said with an ugly smirk.

"Like I said-"

"If you're busy, I'll put my number in your phone so you can call me later," The middle-aged man leaned in, and Yoshizawa just backed away as best as she could in this position. "Sound like a plan?"

"Stop it, you're hurting me…"

Noticing how the bystanders turned away and refused to help, Ren calmly took off his glasses and stuff them into his pocket. And he stepped forward, intervening by grabbing hold of the man's arm.

"Sir, you're hurting her," Ren said, a clear edge within his voice. "Let her go."

However, the man replied with that same ugly smile. "Don't get worked up. I'm just being friendly here-"

"Let. Her. Go." The delinquent said, emphasizing each word and tightening his grip on the man's arm. "Did I stutter?"

The grip was not enough to break his wrist, but enough to force him to release his grasp. And Ren released his own grip just as the mane released his.

"Ah! You little shit!" Backing away, the man clutched his wrist in pain. "You'll pay for this-"

The middle-aged man didn't finish his empty threat, as he saw the fierce glare Ren was giving him. No, calling it a mere 'fierce glare' would be an understatement.

And the man just ran away like he was running for his life, leaving the two Shujin transfers alone.

Giving out a breath of relief, Ren put back his glasses and faced Yoshizawa with a concerned look. "Hey, you're alright?"

"I… I'm fine," Yoshizawa nodded before she realized what he had done and bowed. "B-but thank you so much! I'm sorry for the trouble!"

"It wasn't that much of a trouble-"

"But I still bothered your time!" She interrupted him, her eyes widened, and bowed again. "And I'm sorry for interrupting you!"

"It's totally fine…" Trailing off, Ren couldn't help but chuckle at her antics. It was quite cute, actually. "You don't need to be this formal to me too."

"But…" With her mind slowly understanding the errors of her own ways, Yoshizawa nodded. Instead, a different question surfaced. "Uh-um… May I ask you something?"

"Huh?" Surprised, the delinquent nodded awkwardly. "Sure, go ahead."

"…What made you step in to help me?"

"Because I couldn't look the other way and ignore it, that's all," Ren answered without any hesitation, but still as calm and friendly as he could be.

"Oh, I see…" Trailing off, she looked… saddened for a bit. Was she expected him to ask her something in return? Or just something that'd fit the rumor mill called 'Shujin Academy'. "Well, I apologize for asking something so strange."

"No, it's totally fine, I'm perfectly alright with it," The delinquent smiled, trying at his best to cheer her up, even for a bit. He hated seeing those faces, always had, always will be.

Thankfully, it seemed a bit useful. A small smile crept to Yoshizawa's face. "Thank you… and uh… You're headed to the cleanup as well, right?"

As if she just realized something, she immediately took out and checked her phone. "Oh no, look at the time!" She gasped, hastily stuffing the phone back into her pocket. "I'm sorry, I haven't even thanked you properly yet!"

"I don't care much about properly thanking me or anything…"

"But still…" Trailing off, her eyes widened in further realization. "Oh no! My gym clothes! I-I forgot them back at school!"

"I'll see you at the cleanup!" With that said, she took a few steps away before turning back and politely bowed to him. "Pardon me."

Watching as she rushed to the subway station and disappeared into the crowd, Ren couldn't help but still feel a bit worried about her. And now he also realized another thing, that he still hadn't known her name.

Thankfully, before he dived too deep into his own mind, Morgana snapped him back to reality. "I don't know what's in your mind, but we still need to go to the park," He said. "Just think about it on the way there, okay?"

"Yeah right…" Trailing off, Ren picked up his pace and was on his way to the park.

As the thought of Yoshizawa kept popping up in his mind, maybe he could look for her later… But now, something else was on his top priority.

[Not long after, Inokashira Park]

When Ren finally arrived at the park, everyone else was already there and talking to each other. However… Akira still wasn't here, for some reason. And to make it even more confusing, Shiho looked particularly concerned as well.

"Akira's not replying to my texts!" She said to Ann, who was rubbing her forehead with a sigh. "Ann, should I go and look for him?"

"Of course not, you dummy," The blonde model said, her voice filled with… disappointment out of all things. "He probably just overslept or something, and I bet he wouldn't be picking up someone else either."

"And he's not those type of people who'd cheat too," Keigo added, adjusting his glasses. "Look, judging from how barren his social life is outside of us, it's near-impossible for him to find someone else other than you. And you'll probably kill him if he does that."

"Dude, are you even helpin' right now?" Ryuji asked, sweatdropped.

"I'm merely stating the obvious, that's all," The half-Frenchman just shrugged in response, somehow keeping the calmness on his face and voice. "But it's rare to see you like this, Shiho. I know you two are married, but it's on a whole other level-"

"We're not married! O-or anything in that matter!" Shiho suddenly exclaimed, cutting him short and blushed. "I-I'm just worried, that's all."

"That's something a married person would say," Ryuji deadpanned, finally noticing Ren approaching them and greeting him. "Oh hey Renren, what took you so long?"

"Does protecting a Kouhai from a creep count as a legit reason?" Ren said as Morgana poked its head out from his shoulder bag. "If not, blame it on the trains."

"…That's oddly specific," Ann sweatdropped.

"Because that's what happened, I can be the witness," Morgana said, noticing the blush on Shiho's cheeks. "Um… something happened?"

"Akira's still missing," Keigo said. "I bet 500 yen that he overslept."

"And he kept ignoring my texts too," Shiho added, arms crossed and pouting. "Now he's a jerk, I'm going to-"

"Okay Shiho, don't be too rough on Akira," Ann interrupted her, trying her best to calm Shiho down. "He probably is just running at his life to get here."

"Then let's hope he gets here before it's too late," Keigo commented, turning his focus back onto the people here right now.

And the silence lasted for a moment, before Ann just sighed and looked down at her regular uniform. "Well, it must be great to come here in gym clothes…"

"Huh?" For a moment, everyone in the group shared the same confused look, as they glanced at one another. "Ain't that normal?" Ryuji asked, scanning her entire body from top to bottom.

"Yeah, look at me, it's normal too," Shiho added, spreading her arms as if she were showcasing her gym clothes. "Please don't say that you chose to change here…"

"Seems like it," Ren commented, pushing his glasses and glancing at the long line over at the bathroom. "And… I think you have a high chance of staying in these clothes for the rest of the day too, Ann…"

"That is an absurdly long line," Keigo commented. "Ann, I think you should mentally prepare to stay in this uniform for the entire day."

"Sucks to be a girl, I guess…" Ryuji shrugged, earning a subtle look of agreement from Ann and Shiho.

"Yeah, being a girl sucks sometimes," Ann agreed, just a scream from outside caught their attention.

"I'M HERE!"

Well, judging from the volume of that voice, it probably grabbed the attention of everyone. As the source of said voice ran through the park at top speed, closing in on the group of Persona-users.

"J-j-j-just in time!" Reaching the group, Akira grabbed both of his knees as support and breathed as if he was suffocated for the last five minutes. "H-hey guys, sorry for taking this long…"

"Definitely overslept," Keigo commented again, crossing his arms, and took a step back. "And now, we proceed to the 'couple's argument' phase."

"Huh? W-what the h-hell are you t-talking about, K-Keigo?" Still panting, Akira looked up and was only met with a death glare from Shiho. "S-Shiho? What's wrong?"

"First strike out," Ren deadpanned, also taking a step back.

"What's wrong? Seriously?" Now slightly pissed at his ignorance, Shiho stepped closer to him. "You ignored my text all this time! That's 'what's wrong'!"

Thankfully, Akira wasn't that stupid, and he realized what she meant and hastily took out his phone. "…No no no, I'm sorry Shiho!" Scrolling through all those unread messages, he gave her an apologetic look. "I know it's my fault that I overslept, and I'll take full responsibility for it!"

"U-uh… I'll make you lunch for the entire month!"

This definitely wasn't something any one of them was expecting, and Shiho couldn't help but feel her heart swoon from it. Not only he didn't fall into the trope of 'stupid boyfriend', but he was also taking responsibility…

"…Fine, I'll let it slide, just this time," With a faint blush, she looked away, but not without a small smile. "You're gonna keep your promise though."

"Don't worry, I won't forget it," Akira replied with the same blush and smile, playing with his hair as he looked away as well. "It's you, after all-"

"Okay, that's enough PDA for us singles," Ren suddenly cut in between them, resting his arms on his waist. "Our meetings are gonna be an awkward mess for the foreseeable future, isn't it?"

"Wasn't it always an awkward mess to begin with?" Ryuji asked with a deadpan look, while Ann and Morgana both gave him a side-eye.

Fortunately, a voice from somewhere else diverted their focus from the awkward mess called 'The sight of PDA between Suzui Shiho and Ichijo Akira'. With a megaphone in her hand, Nijima Makoto tried her best to be the best organizer she could be.

It should be easy, she did this before, right?

Shaking her head and snapping out from the depressive thoughts, Makoto took a deep breath. "Good morning, Shujin Academy students and staff. Please pick up all trash located in the areas assigned to your group."

"Once the cleanup is completed, a lunch of miso soup with pork and vegetables will be served," For a moment there, Makoto had to try and keep ahold of her own excitement for the lunch. It's been a while since she ate something other than her own cooking, it'd be a good change of pace.

Meanwhile, back to the group of Persona users, Ann's eyes widened in excitement at the mention of their lunch. "Oh, pork miso soup!" She exclaimed, grinning in excitement. "At least we have something to look forward to!"

"Same here," Out of nowhere, Mishima approached the group like he was in the conversation for the entire time. Clearly unaware of his awkward entrance. "By the way, it's such a nice day out that even the weather seems to be mocking us, right?"

Flabbergasted by his sudden entrance, Ryuji deadpanned. "Dude, could you try pushin' your way into our conversation a little less awkwardly next time?"

"At least you're not like coming here with an unrelated topic," Keigo shrugged.

However, Mishima either didn't notice, or straight-up ignored their comments. "I bet some Kichijoji clean-freak hung paper doll all over and prayed for clear skies today."

Yep, he definitely wasn't aware of his awkwardness.

"I guess you're wrong there, Kamisaki…" Ren muttered, adjusting his glasses as Maruki showed up.

"Hello there," Dr. Maruki greeted them, with one hand in his lab coat's pocket. "Morning, everyone. We got quite a big group here, isn't it?"

"Oh? You're here for the cleanup too, Doc?" The admin of Phansite asked as Akira started to connect the dots in his head.

"You got it," Doc smiled, pushing his glasses. "I'm part of the cooking crew, so I'm responsible for the pork miso soup you all seem to be looking forward to."

"I was about to comment on those clothes, but that makes sense," Ryuji shrugged.

Meanwhile, Akira only sighed. "No wonder…"

However, before Maruki could say another word, a pair of female students approached them. However, from the look of it, it was more for Maruki than anything.

"There you are, Dr. Maruki!" One of them said, just as the other student finished the sentence. "We're going to start prepping soon."

"Oh, coming," Holding that same friendly smile, the counselor left the group and joined them. But not before giving everyone a small wave. "Well, I'm sure it's not going to disappoint. See you all later."

With that said, he turned back to the girls with a slightly concerned look. "How's Elizabeth though?" He asked.

"She's surprisingly helpful. And Kawakami-sensei is putting in extra effort to watch over her…"

Watching as Maruki walked away with the girls, Ryuji couldn't help but groan. "Dr. Popular strikes again… with his little Fanclub…"

"Never knew you'd be jealous of Doc, Sakamoto-Kun," Shiho commented, slightly amused. "You want a Fanclub too?"

"Hell yeah, man!" Exclaimed, the ex-runner nodded with a sudden urge to prove a point. "It's every guy's dream to have a Fanclub! Renren, you want one, right?"

"First, don't call me that, it's gonna tarnish my image of a 'dangerous transfer student'," The said delinquent responded without a second thought and delay and giving Ryuji a look of disappointment. "And second, do I look like a harem anime protagonist?"

"To be fair, you look like one," Keigo chimed in, shrugging as both Ann and Shiho nodded in agreement.

"I'm not gonna be surprised if you do create a harem," Akira added, much to Ren's disappointment.

Thankfully, still either unaware of the conversation happening around him or just choosing to ignore it, Mishima chimed in. "Don't worry, I'm sure the Phan…" As his volume gradually diminished, he cast worried glances at everyone in The Fools. "Uh… oops, I shouldn't say this in front of you guys."

Somehow, he continued to ignore the confused look from Akira and Shiho. And he cleared his throat. "Anyway, just an FYI," Mishima continued. "The school already assigned the groups at random. They're four people apiece, boys and girls mixed."

"And I'm actually here to pick up Kamisaki, he's in my group."

"Huh, that's a rare combo," Keigo shrugged, leaving his original spot and standing beside Mishima.

And at the same time, Makoto's enhanced voice chimed in from far away again. "Now that those announcements have been made, please break into your groups and head to your assigned areas."

"Well, you heard what Prez just said," Ryuji sighed, stretching his arms into the air. "Let's just get this over with as fast as possible so we can chow down on that soup and get the hell outta here!"

With a nod from everyone, they split up and went to their respective groups. And thus, the cleanup finally started.

[After a moment]

Inside Ren's group, the atmosphere around him was… nervous and unpleasant, to say the least. It was like some kind of aura coming off from him, and the rest of his group just stayed away from him, literally.

"Hey," Lowering his volume as if Ren couldn't hear him, the 'leader' of Ren's group, which was a third-year, talked to the other two teammates. "That guy… Is he… THAT transfer student?"

"Yeah…" the other teammate nodded, giving him side glances. "Messy hair, glasses, horrifying glares… It fits the descriptions…"

Meanwhile, the first-year of the team naively asked the. "You mean… the one student in all those crazy rumors?"

Of course, it's Shujin's rumor mill. Even now that Kamoshida's out of the picture, it just HAD to keep haunting him like a shadow. "…So much for a nice trip…" Ren couldn't help but muttered sarcastically, as the event earlier played back in his mind.

"You little shit! You'll pay for this…"

Right, this reminded him. Wasn't that a near-perfect replica of that night? Saving someone from a piece of shit who wanted to take advantage of her, and got threatened by it…

Speaking of which, how's that Kouhai? What if that creep stalked her to school, and grabbed her when she's coming back? Or what if he's here right now, ready to assault her?

With all those questions and worries piling up on another, and with the murmurs coming from behind… Ren didn't notice, but the death glare and aura coming off from him was straight up dreadful.

And from the look of it, the rest of his teammates also noticed it.

"S-shit, I think he heard us…" The first year trailed off, as the rest of the group took a step away from him in a clear sign of fear. "A-are we gonna make this out alive?"

"If we run for it, we might…"

Thankfully, this snapped him out from his thought and building rage. "Ahh crap, I did that again…" Sighing to himself, Ren decided to focus on picking up trash again.

[At Ann's group]

On the other hand, over at Ann's group, things were… surprisingly comfy. Maybe it's just because they had the same thought in their mind. And the same feeling as well.

Frustration.

"Urgh!" Groaning as he picked up the third broken umbrella, the First-year of the group felt like he was about to tear his hair out. "Anyone who's just dumps a broken umbrella on the ground like this is human garbage."

Thankfully, Ann tried to be the voice of reason on the team. "Oh, before you trash it, you have to make sure you separate the plastic parts from the metal frame."

The chubby second-year teammate blinked, clearly confused by her advice. "Separate it? How?"

With a confident smile, the blonde model grabbed ahold of the said plastic part of the umbrella with one hand, and the handle with her other hand. "Just like this," She said, tearing it clean off in one go.

Huh, maybe the Metaverse adventure and fighting with shadows helped her with her strength. After all, fighting those shadows did make a fantastic exercise. Maybe she should take a closer look to see if she had built up some muscle or not…

"Whoa!" Eyes widened, the first-year of her group exclaimed in surprise. "Awesome!"

"I had no idea you know about that kind of stuff, Takamaki-san," The leader, A.K.A. the third-year of the group, said, genuinely impressed. "I bet you'd make a wonderful wife."

For a second there, the reality around Ann froze. And her head struggled to process what she just said, and urgently tried to push down a certain vision of a future of her being a wife.

The thing was, she could visualize this in the first place. And she could also imagine who's her husband would be-

Hastily snapping out from the quicksand of thought, Ann just laughed awkwardly. "Haha… Nah," She shook her head, brushing through her twintail.

Maybe this was how Shiho felt when everyone teased her and Akira… Karma definitely struck back. And it's best to keep this a secret, she's not letting Shiho get any leverage of teasing against her.

[After a few moments, in Akira's group]

Akira felt a bit lonely in this four-people group. No, actually, calling it 'a bit lonely' was an understatement.

Ever since what happened with Kimiko, he was already detached from his classmates in Class D. Even though now Kamoshida was behind bars and for good, there still was a huge gap between him and his fellow classmates.

It did get better with Ren, Ann and Keigo, but… it still wasn't looking good.

"Maybe this would help…" Sighing to himself, he looked over at his groupmates. They looked… they looked like they felt bad for not talking to him, but not knowing how to open a conversation at the same time.

It was obvious why.

Thankfully, one of his groupmates walked up and talked to him. "Uh… hey, Ichijo," The groupmate, which was a plain-looking girl with shoulder-length black hair and a pair of black thick-framed glasses, said. "I know it's the worst time to say it, but uh… I'm sorry for what happened to you…"

…Oh right, she's in his class. He knew that when he was checking the list for his group.

"Don't worry, I won't throw a tantrum like back then," With an awkward smile, Akira rubbed the back of his neck. "In fact, I should be the one apologizing to you guys instead. Y'know, the first day in the second year, and here I am, making a scene and ruining the mood for you…"

"No, I can understand why you'd do that," Shaking her head, she gave him a sympathetic look. "Knowing how much of an evil person Kamoshida is, it… it must be a hell for you to be here, right?"

"Actually, why did you even choose to stay?" She added, genuinely confused by his decision back then. "I mean, even the Kosei's Student council president came in-person to give you an offer…"

"Ah… right, the whole business with Higashikuni-san…" Trailing off, Akira's mind raced at a million miles per second to think of a response without mentioning Shiho's name.

Usually, it should be something easy, he did just that when he was responding to Hinaki. But now… as the honeymoon phase was still going strong, he had to be extra careful to not mention her at all.

In the end, it all came down to one sentence.

"I guess as slim of a chance it is, there's something worthy enough for me to stay…"

From the look on her face, she… didn't really buy it. "That… it's not 'something', but 'someone', right?" She asked, leaning closer with that eye of a detective.

And now, Akira's panicking. Mentally panicking.

"U-uh… n-no, it's definitely not someone," Hastily shaking his head, the amateur writer frantically scanned his surrounding for a way out. Both metaphorically and literally.

However, the girl seemed to realize that she was prying into his life and backed away. "O-oh, sorry about that," She shuttered, blushing in embarrassment. "I did this again… I got used to chasing stories after stories…"

Surprised by her sudden change in demeanor, Akira found nothing came out of his mouth. Well, in a way, it's definitely better than the demeanor change Shiho could have, but it's still weird.

"U-uh… Chasing stories?"

"Yeah, stories and rumors," The girl nodded, realizing that she hadn't even formally introduced herself. "Oh right, I haven't introduced myself first."

"Wait, aren't we classmates-"

"You probably don't know my name, just like everyone else," Interrupting him with a hint of sadness, she continued. "Anyway, I'm Akiyama Saya, the last member of the news club… or what is left of it."

"Oh… you're that girl who's always standing in the hallway," With a hint of recognition, Akira immediately realized how bad his way to describe her was. "O-oh, wait, sorry 'bout that-"

"No, at least you remember me, that's a first," Still holding that faint aura of sadness, Saya pushed her glasses. "Well, even though I'm just an amateur, I'm still an investigative reporter. Having no presence in anything is kinda a blessing in disguise…"

"Shame that I can't do anything back when Kamoshida's still around…" Trailing off, guilt was clear on her face. "I tried to spread the truth, but it's just me against the world, and the principal even forced us to write something in favor of him…"

"It's fine, we're all just victims of that piece of shit," Akira gave her a reassuring smile, Akira ran his hand through his hair.

However, before Saya could respond, the first-year and third-year teammates' words cut in between them. And he's… somewhat pissed.

"HEY! Don't just stand there and leave the work to us!"

Eyes widened, and Akira and Saya immediately returned to pick up the trash. But at least… Akira knew one more person in his class now, that's progress.

[Meanwhile, in Ryuji's group]

"Oh hey, a wallet!"

Overhearing his teammates' excited murmurs about a wallet, Ryuji stopped what he was doing and turned back. Just as Shiho did the same thing as him.

That's right, even though it's mixed between grades and classes, they were lucky that they got into the same group. Even though from the look of it, Ren got the worse hand out of everyone.

Back onto the wallet before them, the third-year student of the team chimed in with the same excited expression. "Anything in it?"

The original caller of that wallet immediately picked it up, opening and examined what was left inside. "Whoa! Yeah, a shit-ton!" He exclaimed, and for a split second there, Ryuji could see sparkles inside his eyes.

Which reminded him of a certain non-cat. But that's not the problem here, something else was.

Pondered for a moment, the third-year nodded, toward himself as he walked a bit closer. "…We goin' splitsies on this?"

Yep, that confirmed Ryuji's hunch. And he couldn't help but spoke up, just as Shiho was about to do the same thing as well.

"Hey, shouldn't we that take to a police box?"

In response, the two teammates just gave him a weird look. It was like they were confused and surprised at him saying that. Were they expecting him to agree with them?

Thankfully, Shiho came into his defense. "I'm with Ryuji here, it's a crime to do that. Even if no one saw it."

Exchanging glances, the two just sighed in the end.

And for the rest of the day, a sense of awkwardness clouded the entire group. It wasn't great.

[somewhere quite far away from those groups]

Mishima was angry, angry at this injustice before him. This injustice which lay on the ground before him! How could no one see this and not do something, did they all just ignore it because it didn't concern them?!

"Man, this park is trashed…" Picking up the injustice called 'plastic bottle', Mishima groaned. "No way this was all done by kids-it's gotta be the work of some no-good adults, too!"

However, just as he was about to dump the bottle into the trash bag, a certain cinnamon roll approached. "If you don't mind, may I have the cap on that bottle?" She said, upholding a friendly smile and aura.

"Huh? Sure…" Nodding, the Phan-site's admin unscrewed the cap and handed it to her. "Oh! Are you a collector?"

"Ah… not exactly," Haru sweatdropped, but quickly regained her composure. "Recycling companies collect these for a fund to make vaccines for kids. So that's why I'm collecting them right now."

"Huh, I didn't know that…" Genuinely impressed by this new knowledge, Mishima nodded with deep thought. "Well, that sounds like an awesome way to bring more justice to the world!"

"…Justice… to the world?" Feeling the awkward aura spreading like a virus from the admin, Haru found herself… at a loss for words to respond. "…I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I follow you."

Thankfully, for Haru, a certain half-Frenchman showed up. "Hey Mishima, don't just walk off into the sunset…" With his voice trailing off as he noticed Haru, Keigo immediately waved with a small smile. "Oh hey there, Okumura-senpai."

"Kamisaki-Kun!" Responding with a beaming smile, the heriess' eyes darted between Mishima and Keigo. And she connected the dots. "Oh, you two are in the same group, right?"

"Yeah, and I'm here to bring him back since lunch is approaching," Nodding, an idea popped up in his mind. "And oh, actually, wanna go to have lunch together?"

"I'd love to," Haru replied without missing a beat, as her beaming smile widened. "Then where do we meet up then? I'm not familiar with the park."

"How about by the spot where they give out the Miso Soup?"

"Sure! I'll meet you then?"

"Yep."

Upholding that smile, Haru waved them goodbye and returned to her group's area. And as Keigo turned back with a faint smile, he was greeted by a shocked Mishima. Eyes widened and mouth agape, Mishma froze before he suddenly bowed to him.

"K-Kamisaki-san! Please teach me how to talk to girls!"

"Huh? What?" Keigo sweatdropped, pushing his glasses. "Just go, I don't want that third-year to literally reign hell on us."

"B-but-"

"Don't finish that sentence, focus on going through the day, okay?" With a deadpanned look, the half-Frenchman led Mishima back to their group.

While for the entire time, Mishima just kept bugging him to teach him 'The way to get with girls'.

So much for 'getting through the day'.

[At the cooking crew's tables]

Meanwhile, over at Maruki's group, things were… looking better than they should be. Or any kind of outcome Kawakami and Maruki expected, other than Elizabeth.

As the delicious smell of the miso soup spread from the big pot in the middle, Kawakami and Maruki couldn't help but had their mouth dropped. In some weird way, Elizabeth was right.

Not only she didn't make a fire or anything, but what she made… smell fantastic.

"See? I told you that you can trust me," With a smug grin, Elizabeth stood straight with crossed arms. "Now, I demand an apology for slandering my cooking skill!"

"But you just helped us on seasoning, that's all, Elizabeth-san," Standing behind her, one of the cooking crew, a first-year student deadpanned. "Don't take the credit just to one-up Doc."

"…That means I'm still involved in making them, and I'm in right to use it."

"…What?" Genuinely bewildered by her… logic, the first-year stood still as his brain went hay-wired. "What kind of logic is that?!"

"Well, you see…"

Giving out a sigh in unison, the teacher and the counselor exchanged a glance before they stood up and interveined. "Okay, that's enough," She said, trying her best to sound authoritative in her exhausted state. "Just focus on cooking, and no more nonsense like this."

Even though it's clear that there were quite a lot of words waiting to be shot out of Elizabeth's mouth, she still complied. "…You owe me one, Kawakami."

"Wha- I owe you nothing."

"Yes you do! You just spare me from taking my time and arguing-"

"I didn't 'spare' you from arguing, I stopped you-" Stopping herself from finishing the sentence, Kawakami sighed and rubbed her forehead. "…I didn't get paid enough for this…"

Knowing that it's not going any further, the first-year shook his head and walked away. "…How the hell did Kobayakawa hire her…" He muttered, not loud enough to be heard by everyone.

"Just behave yourself, Elizabeth," Maruki deadpanned, having enough of all these shenanigans when they should focus on making the lunch. "We're not here to argue or stuff."

Even though they had successfully averted a crisis called 'Elizabeth's shinanigans', but… it felt like it was only the start.

[After a while, but still not before lunchtime]

Kasumi was… a bit angry.

Even though what happened earlier in the morning did impact her mood for the entire day, something else overtook it. No, it's not that senpai who came in and saved her (Being hot in the meantime), it was Akira.

It's been two days since the destined date she helped plan, and she had heard nothing from it.

To be fair, she realized that they actually never exchanged their contact info, but still… shouldn't he just talk to him here? Like just swap phone numbers or just… anything!

Groaning in annoyance, Kasumi put the metal claw and trashbag away and left her group. Using a 'bathroom break' as an excuse to try to find Akira. After all, her group had already finished picking up trash, so it would be fine.

However, there's a thing. This park wasn't small, not at all. AND not only that, the member of the Student Council were patrolling around to catch anyone who was leaving their group/assigned area.

It wasn't like they wanted to do it in the first place, so most of them just let it slide.

Other than Makoto.

After she checked where Akira's group was and their assigned area, Kasumi wasted no time and arrived. However, Akira was nowhere to be found, and only three people were in this area too (which Kasumi assumed that it's Akira's groupmates).

Walking up to one of the teammates, which was Saya, the redhead quickly straightened her red sports jacket. "Um… excuse me," She said politely, grabbing her attention. "Are you in the same group as Aki- Ichijo-senpai?"

"…Yes," She nodded after a few moments of complete stillness, surprised and feeling awkward around her. "Wait, why are you here? Lunch's still half an hour away, you might get caught!"

"I'm looking for him," Kasumi explained, still holding the same politeness. "Uh… let's just say he owed me some result from a… an event I helped him planning."

Blinked, Saya just felt something fishy. Great, her journalist instinct was working before she could realize it. "Well… Ichijo left for a restroom break a while ago, after he smiled at some text…"

Trailing off, Saya realized her hunch was correct, there WAS something fishy going on. However, on the other hand, Kasumi could already guess why Akira just happened to have a bathroom break.

"Great, they're sneaking away…" Murmuring to herself, the redhead gymnast bowed politely to her. "Anyway, thank you for answering them, I'll wait by the restroom then."

With that said, and before Saya could say anything else, Kasumi went on her way. And continued her search for that lovesick senpai, which now only got harder. With the task of avoiding being noticed by Makoto herself.

Thankfully, the last task was surprisingly easy. Makoto was only one person, after all. The same couldn't be said for the primary task though, with a park this big.

However, as she continued to be on the search, she heard someone else's muttering out of frustration. "Dammit, where the hell is you, Shiho…"

Recognizing the name, Kasumi immediately approached that someone. And… it was Ryuji, unlike Ann she was expecting. Even though Akira did mention that they knew each other… Wait, why was she over-complicating things?

Snapping out from the thought by herself, Kasumi cleared her throat and bowed politely. "Excuse me, are you looking for Suzui-senpai?"

"Huh?" Blinked in surprise, Ryuji turned to her with a puzzled look. "Wait, what? I-I mean, yeah, I'm lookin' for her. But… huh?"

"Oh, I'm looking for Ichijo-senpai," Realizing her poor attempt, the redhead Kouhai immediately apologized with a slight bow. "Since you mentioned that Suzui-senpai is also happened to be missing…"

Thankfully, judging from how Ryuji's eyes widened, she didn't need to say it out explicitly. "Oh… that's why…" Trailing off, he facepalmed. "Those two lovebirds… I'm still gonna look for her anyway."

"Same here, I need to ask Ichijo-senpai about the date too."

"So we share a common goal then!" Nodding, the runner crossed his arms with a determined look. "Wanna join?"

"I'm going to anyway, let's go senpai!"

Speaking of which, how were things with Akira and Shiho?

Standing right where they made the confession two days ago, which was somewhere quiet and next to the lake, the couple couldn't help but giggle at what they had just did.

"Well, I still can't believe you just texted me 'Wanna get outta here'," Akira chuckled, leaning against the fence, but his eyes were still locked onto Shiho next to him. "You're a lot more rebellious than I thought, Shiho."

"What? I'm always this rebellious," Returning the same chuckle as her now-boyfriend, Shiho took a step closer to him. "You'd never know how fun it'd be to break the rule sometimes."

"Really? Care to explain?" The amateur writer asked with a small smirk. And before she could say anything, he leaned in and stole a kiss from her.

Eyes widened, Shiho back away for a millimeter, but not before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling into a deep kiss. Unlike the small peck he just did before, this lasted for a while.

With their lips finally separating, Shiho only returned the smirk. "Now we're even."

"Surprise operation failed," Akira pouted. "But did I say that your lips are dangerously addicting?"

"Not until now," Shifting her arms from around his neck to his waist, Shiho's smirk turned into a soft smile instead. "But well, remember I told you that my mom and dad will love you back then?"

"Of course I do," Nodding, the amateur writer's brow furrowed, worry clear within his eyes. "…Did… did they not like us?"

"That's the furthest thing from the truth, don't worry," The volleyball player shook her head, but not before a sigh escaped from her lips. "Just uh… they were way too excited for us. Mom even asked us whether we uh… went further than just kissing-"

"Wait, seriously?" Akira blinked, wrapping his arms around her waist too. "That reminds me of Minako-san… She literally asked me that on that night…"

"I guess we do have common treatment from everyone then," Another sigh escaped from Shiho's lips. "But also, Ann knows about us too… Well, because I asked her how to prepare for a date, and she wanted me to tell her how did it go…"

"Oh, well… we're quite bad at keeping it a secret anyway," Akira shook his head, subtly tightening his arms with reassurance. "Keigo literally told Mitsuru that we're a married couple too… And actually, someone had helped me plan the date too."

"To be fair, in retrospective… we do act like a married couple," The volleyball player just shrugged, but a small smile was clear on her face. "But that someone… you mean Ren?"

"Nope, it's Yoshizawa, the honor student from First-Year," He answered. "I met her in the canteen and became friends… And I had no one to turn to without being teased to hell back then… I asked for her aids."

"And… did she know how it ended?"

"We didn't swap out contacts, so… no."

"…You're not mad?"

"Why would I?" Looking right into his eyes, Shiho tilted her head as if his question was ridiculous. "I did the same thing with Ann, and if you're looking for help to plan the date… That means you're treating this seriously."

To say Akira was stunned… was a slight understatement. And he stayed silent before he smiled and kissed her again.

And they stayed like this for a while-

"DUDE!/Senpai!"

Snapping out from the feelings on each other's lips, the couple turned to the voice's origin. And Ryuji was standing there alongside Kasumi, mouth dropped and eyes widened.

Before the couple could mutter a single sound out from their throat, Kasumi started speaking first. "Well, here's all the confirmation I need," She sighed. "I guess it saves you time for telling me how the date went..."

"Holy shit, I-I thought you two were just-" Cutting himself short, Ryuji's eyes widened in realization. "WAIT, so you two have been dating for weeks now?!"

"Wha- NO!" Responding in unison, the couple hastily released themselves from each other's hold. Even though they're still holding each other's hands, fingers intertwined.

"I-it's only been two days," Akira admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

However, this only confused Ryuji further. And before he could ask another question, someone else's voice popped up.

"Why are you all here? It's not in the assigned area."

Grabbing everyone's attention and turning to where the voice came from, Makoto was standing there with her arms crossed. But as her eyes scanned through the four students before her, she stopped at Akira.

And what he said to her surfaced again.

"For god sake, just do something useful in your life."

Hastily shaking her head and cleared from that thought, Makoto turned into her 'prez' mode once again. "Lunch is still fifteen minutes away, and all of you are abandoning post for…"

Trailing off, her eyes landed on how Shiho and Akira's hands were intertwined. Even with how little her knowledge was of romance, she could still get the underlining meaning.

"Yeah, we're just taking a break, Prez," Ryuji said with clear dislike within his voice, furrowing his brow. "We'll go back right now."

"R-right, please don't be too hard on us," Kasumi added, clasping her hands with an awkward look.

But before she could say anything, Akira released himself from Shiho's hold and stepped up. "It's all my fault, Nijima," He said. "I thought it'd be fun to sneak out."

"Then that means…" Trailing off, Makoto found herself… unable to uphold her 'serious' front. Maybe even she didn't want to create a mess because of her… sense of justice or something. And she couldn't finish the sentence.

Maybe it's just because of her last interaction with Akira, his… words still sting. And now, she can't look into his eyes without those words resurfacing in her mind.

Subtly shaking her head, Makoto sighed. "Just go back to your assigned area."

With that said, she picked up her pace and left them alone, ignoring how Akira looked like he wanted to say something to her. It'd probably be an apology, but now… she didn't want to hear it.

Meanwhile, watching as she ignored his call, Akira gave out a long breath and turned to the three. "Well, I guess we should do what Nijima just said."

"But what's wrong with Prez?" Ryuji suddenly asked, raising an eye. "She looks like she didn't even want to talk to you, for some reason."

"Yeah, did you two… had an argument or some sort?" Kasumi added, as Shiho shared the same confused look like her.

"…Kinda," Trying not to cringe from what he said back then, Akira nodded. "But let's just go back before the third-year scolds us."

Even though there was still a giant unanswered question hanging above their heads, the other three complied with a nod. And they returned to their respective groups.

[Fifteen minutes later, Lunchtime]

As each team's leader (A.K.A the third-year of each group) came in and got the miso soups for their own teams, the lunchtime went on quite smoothly. And Makoto could adjust her mindset and focus back on the work at hand.

And at least the fellow student council members were kind enough to let her eat with them. Even though… on the back of her mind, a voice just kept telling her that they were doing this out of pity.

But… she could ignore that, for now.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the park and on a lone bench, Keigo and Haru were having a relaxing time together. And they found their conversation kept drifting in random directions, not that they didn't like it.

Taking another sip of the miso soups, Haru couldn't help but smile brightly. "It tastes great, I can't believe I have never drunk it before…"

"Really?" Even though he was quite surprised by her lack of experience in eating, Keigo kept it as subtle as possible. "It's alright for me, and it could be better."

"You seem to have quite a high standard for food, Kamisaki-Kun," Giggling, the heiress put down her soup aside. "So I'm curious, what's your plan for the photoshoot?"

"Hmm… maybe some views and the lake," Shrugging, the half-Frenchman pondered. "And if you want to, you can be a model. That's your choice though."

"Model?" eyes widened, Haru's gaze lowered to her body, and the plain-looking sports uniform she was wearing with a small frown. "But I don't think I'm going to do a good job…"

"Well, that depends on the photographer," Keigo said with a reassuring smile, stroking his chin as he examined Haru and the surrounding lighting and such. "And… well, for an example, I can try right here and now."

Even though he didn't really like using it, for the sake to let her see the result instantly, he could try.

Taking out his phone, he opened the camera app. "So just do whatever you want, no need to look into the camera too."

"Huh?! N-now?!" With a faint blush out of embarrassment, Haru hastily tried to assemble a nice-looking pose. "U-uh… I don't know any pose that'd look good."

"Don't worry about it, I can make it look good," Keigo said with a clear confidence in his voice, looking for the best framing and lighting for the spot they're in. "Just trust me."

With a small nod, Haru took a deep breath and relaxed. She gave trust in him, just like that photo he took of her flowers, Keigo did have the skill to back up what he was talking about. And she placed both of her hands on her lap, her gaze placed on the sight before her with a modest smile.

And she waited, as a soft sound of a shutter exclaimed from Keigo's phone. "That looks great," Keigo said, grabbing her focus and surprise.

"Really?"

"Yep," As Keigo handed his phone to her, Haru took a look at the photo itself. "Here, take a look."

And… he was right, she looked… fantastic in this picture. Even though the framing was simple and placed her in the middle, it focused more on her face with how the depth of view worked. Not only that, the light shined on her hair and gave… a halo effect to her.

For a split second, Haru couldn't believe she was the same person as the one inside this picture. And to think that it only took him a few seconds to find them…

"W-wow," She shuttered, genuinely impressed and speechless at how he captured and enhanced her… features. "I… I don't know what to say other than… it doesn't look like me in a positive way."

"Well, that's a much bigger reaction than I expected," Keigo chuckled, pushing his glasses. "But yeah, we can do more, if you want to."

"I'd love to take more photos, it… it's way better than those photos when I was doing ballet…"

Ballet? So she did ballet before?

With a raised eye, the half-Frenchman decided to ask. "You do ballet?"

"I did, back in middle school," Maybe it was something unpleasant surfaced, the smile disappeared and was replaced by a frown. "Because father would bring me to social events… and I had to look like I belong…"

"Of course, the tradition of upper-class…" Trailing off, an idea slowly surfaced inside Keigo's mind. An idea that might go too far, but it might help her with… what's happening with her family. "…Actually, how about I take photos of you dancing?"

"Me dancing?" Eyes widened, and Haru tried to respond but found her cheeks slowly painted with a shade of pink. "I-it's been years since I practice or dance at all… I'm not sure…"

"Well, it doesn't have to be strictly ballet, you can add in your own elements and style," He suggested, giving her a reassuring smile. "And I'm going to make sure that you'd look beautiful while doing so."

"Besides, I can try to dance too if you're embarrassed."

Mouth agape, to say that Haru was surprised… was an understatement. When was the last time someone would do this for her? Even just for a friend, Keigo seemed to go far and beyond just for her…

And to be herself…

As the thought slowly slowed to a single word, the heiress nodded.

"O-okay, let's do it."

[Meanwhile, somewhere away]

Sitting alone on a bench, Ren couldn't help but gave out a long breath. After all, it sure didn't feel good to know that your group mates bailed out. Once it was clear they could get the hell outta here, they did just that.

Resting inside the bag he put beside him, Morgana frowned and shared the same sentiment. "I don't know the best way to put it… but that sure was a crappy time out there."

"…Not that I wanted to be here in the first place…" Ren murmured, crossing his arms and leaning into the bench. "It sucks…"

However, as if some gods were listening to him, a certain redhead Kouhai walked up to him. "I've finally found you," Surprised, a warm smile crept up on Kasumi's cheek. "I was trying to find you so I could thank you properly for this morning."

"Oh, uh…" Trailing off, the delinquent found himself to be… lost for words. "You already did this morning, no need to… do it again."

"I still have to," Noticing that he was all alone here, Kasumi quickly scanned her surrounding. "But… Where'd the other people in your group go?"

"They ditched me as soon as they can," Ren shrugged, trying to look as normal as he could.

"Ah… I see," With a downcasted look, Kasumi shared the same feeling as Ren right now. "…I'm in pretty much the same situation as you, Senpai."

"If it's all right with you, why don't we eat our soup together?"

To say that Ren expected this outcome would be a big lie, but with just sheer willpower, he still upheld the calm and relaxed exterior. "Sure."

"Great!"

With that said, and with a bright smile, Kasumi immediately rushed back to where the main hub for the soup was and brought hers. And Ren took out his as well.

Once she returned, the two transfers ate their miso soup in a sense of comfortable silence. And the soup was delicious, even though this was only in the hands of fellow students. Before they could realize it, both of them had finished their soups.

"That was delicious…" Putting down the empty bowl next to herself, the gymnast's gaze turned to Ren. "I want to thank you again for this morning, Senpai."

"That man was even more frightening than he might have appeared for you…" Trailing off, she let her gaze lowered for a split second before turning back with a smile. "So I truly appreciate what you did for me! Thank you so much!"

"…You don't really need to thank me, it was nothing…" Ren muttered, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. However, Kasumi continued.

"Sorry, but… there's also one more thing… that I want to apologize," Giving out a small sigh, she lowered her gaze again. "About what happened back in our little run-in outside of the guidance office… I'm truly sorry for calling you a 'delinquent'."

"And… I heard the rumors about you from my classmates too…" Trailing off, the gymnast winced as she remembered what the other people claimed Ren had done. "Like you did Burglary, murder, and… even elephant tusk trafficking…"

"Add driving without a license on that list, and now it's complete," Noticing how uncomfortable she looked, Ren decided to lift the mood up with a joke. "But well, my life would be a lot more interesting if any one of them is true…"

"A shame then," Giggling, Kasumi visibly relaxed and successfully lifted up. In the mood department. "I know it's a bit weird since we just met, but… you're definitely not like the kind of person those rumors describe."

"I'm flattered, and… well, I just let the rumor mill run its course, no need to worry about it too much."

Even though Ren was sure that at least half of what he just said was a lie, a lie just to keep this conversation from spiraling into a deep pit. A deep pit that he would frequently find his mind stepping into when there was no one else.

Thankfully, Kasumi's eyes suddenly widened as if she realized something, unknowingly snapping Ren out of his thought. "You know what, it just hit me- I haven't introduced myself yet!"

Ah… so she was a bit clumsy, huh.

Chuckled at how cute she acted at that moment, Ren decided to go first. "I'm Amamiya Ren, second-year."

"Oh, sorry for making you go first, Amamiya-senpai," With an apologetic look, she lifted her bangs aside. "I apologize this was such a long time coming, but I hope we can get along well!"

"I believe you already learned from our meeting at school that my-"

Just as Kasumi was about to continue, a young girl holding a red balloon happened to pass by. And her hold on the said balloon accidentally loosened, losing it in the process.

Noticing this happening from the corner of her eyes, Kasumi sprung up from the bench and leaped. Gracefully and full of elegance as she caught the balloon and landed without the slightest bit of sway.

"Got it just in time…" Muttering to herself, she gave the balloon back to the young girl with a friendly smile. "Here you go! Don't let go of the things you like, okay?"

The young girl nodded before she walked away, and Kasumi stayed and looked after her for a moment.

Until she just remembered what she was supposed to be doing and rushed back to the bench, the same apologetic look surfaced again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to run out on you like that."

"Don't worry 'bout that, you did fantastic with that jump," Shaking his head, Ren handed something back to her. "And you dropped this too."

It was her pocketbook, and her full name was clearly written on it.

Or in other words, she just lost her chance to properly introduce herself to Ren. "I guess you sleuthed me out before I got to tell you," She chuckled. "Well, you've cracked the case- I'm Yoshizawa Kasumi, a first-year!"

And at that moment, a thought popped up inside Ren's head. Not a thought like those spirals of rumor, but something… belonged to Joker. "Actually, your form was really good, Yoshizawa-san. Even if it's just the basic gymnastic moves…"

"Oh, you know gymnastics?!"

"Just a bit, mostly to help with my dancing," Ren shrugged. It wasn't a lie, he was into dancing back in middle school, until that night which ruined his life. "But actually… can you teach me that? My reflex had been lacking since I stopped dancing."

"Of course! I'm honored if you allow me!" Kasumi agreed without a second thought, nodding with clear enthusiasm. "But uh… speaking of which, maybe you can give me advice with my forms too."

"Lately, I haven't been getting the results I want from my performances, and I'm worried that I'm overthinking things too…"

"Sure, I'll help you on that," Responding without a second thought like what she just did, Ren nodded.

"That's great! Then we've cut a deal! Heheh…" With a beaming smile, the gymnast took out her phone and opened her chat app. "And maybe we should exchange our contact information, just in case."

"How would I say 'no' to that?" Chuckling, Ren also took out his phone and opened his iM app. "Here."

"Thanks," Nodding, Kasumi's smile got replaced by a frown in an instant as she laid her eyes on her phone. "…It shut down again… Sorry, my smartphone's been acting up lately."

Thankfully, the said smartphone returned to the norm in an instant. As if it was responding to her words. However, Kasumi didn't think too much about it. "Aha, it's back!" Nodding, the redhead Kouhai input Ren's chat ID. "Okay, I'll contact you when I've got free time if that's fine."

Suddenly, the amplified voice of Makoto rang from the middle of the park, grabbing both Ren and Kasumi's attention.

"Attention Shujin Academy students: the cleanup event will be ending momentarily," Makoto announced, watching as the cooking crew started to pack their equipment. "Please do not discard your trash in the bins here. Instead, bring your waste to the predetermined location for disposal."

"After that, we will be officially releasing everyone for the day. Thank you all for your hard work."

"…Finally…" Ren muttered under his breath, giving out a small sigh and stretching his arms.

And that gave Kasumi an idea.

"Actually, since we're already in our gym clothes anyway," She suggested, also stretching her arms as well. "Would you care for some basic training before heading home?"

"Well, it's gonna be some core exercise, right?" Standing up from the bench, Ren smiled as he started warming up.

"Yes! Those are the foundation for staying in shape, after all."

Well, it seemed like they were having a great start already.

And with that thought, the two started their training together.

A bond of faith started to build between them.

(To be Continued)

Preview:

As the month of June rolled by, the Phantom thieves continued their wait for Madarame's confession.

Meanwhile, they met a mysterious boy in the Mementos.

But while the normal side of their lives continued on,

The road of what's to come had been laid.

Next Chapter:

"Intermission"

Stay tuned!

So... 13K words. Well, I still couldn't believe the cleanup chapter would be the longest chapter of this entire fic XD.

Actually, I did try to find a good point to split the chapter into two different ones. But uh... I can't really find one. So instead, here's THE longest chapter then.

And just a bit over a month too... wow.

Anyway, in this chapter, we also have a wholly new character, from the news club herself, Akiyama Saya! *clap*.

So, while writing for Chapter 34, I was reading 'Covering The Phantom Thieves' (A fun fic over at Ao3) and planting the idea of putting someone like Keiko here XD. Well, Saya is definitely no Keiko, but she'd still be a fun new addition to write about.

Even though I think she'd be more active over at Memento Missions.

And for her name, actually, it's a combination of 'Toyohiro Akiyama', the first Japanese astronaut who entered the space (who is also a reporter), and 'Saya Hiyama', a weather reporter who got famous on the internet because of her look and being adorable (obviously). And I knew about her because my IRL friends love to post clips of her reporting on Instagram Stories XD.

In the end, I hope you enjoy the story so far, and reviews are definitely welcomed!